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Fusion Centers
State and local law enforcement agencies have been looking for better ways to conduct their investigations. Often a lone investigator tirelessly searches manually through clues putting all of the pieces together to solve a crime. Each clue is critical, but knowing how each clue applies to the overall case is the most important part of the investigative process. Many of the clues often come from searches performed across a wide range of databases including public records, criminal histories, and other related sources.
On TV, shows like CSI (Crime Scene Investigation) and NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service) depict elite teams of special investigators quickly resolving cases by accessing different high-tech resources to analyze the evidence. With a few clicks of a button, they search through their data archives to find the smoking gun - case solved. Traditionally, law enforcement agencies have not been as proficient with advanced technologies such as database systems and related analytics - and although intriguing, these TV shows do not reflect what occurs in the mainstream community.
A significant gap exists in the investigative efforts ongoing across a majority of state-level counter-drug, financial crimes, terrorism, fraud, and law enforcement agencies. Currently, there is little, if any, analytical collaboration or data sharing amongst state and local law enforcement agencies because each organization operates independently while trying to achieve a common and collective goal of combating crime. Although politics, jurisdictional boundaries, and other factors all play into how much one agency is willing to support the sharing of its resources, many agencies embrace the ability to make effective use of their data resources.
In the rapid pace of our changing world, it is difficult to keep up-to-date with industry trends in complex fields such as data mining, text processing, crime mapping, link analysis, and other forms of advanced analytics. Many investigators are not adequately trained in the IT industry, although this is changing as better trained investigators are coming up through the ranks.
To better foster cooperation and data sharing among law enforcement agencies to alleviate the current non-collaborative investigative situation, fusion centers and programs have been proposed, under development, or are actively operating to address these issues.
Continued on VAI News page
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As another year draws to close, we reflect on the past and look forward to the future. VAI would like to extend our most sincere thanks to all of those who have supported us and contributed to another successful year for VAI.
As we spend this time celebrating and enjoying the company of family and friends, let us also take time to remember and honor those who have sacrificed all and those who continue to serve and protect us.
VAI wishes all of our customers, partners, and employees a safe and joyous holiday season. We look forward to working with each of you in the New Year.
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This month’s VisuaLinks News brings you a range of topics – including some tips on the recently announced Java security issue and how your VisuaLinks implementation is affected (the quick answer – it’s not!).
You’ll also find an in-depth case study of financial structuring in our Link Chart of the Month and a discussion of Network Miner enhancements in our Feature of the Month.
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DIG 3.0 is just around the corner. We have already introduced you to a number of its new features. This month - as promised - we introduce you to the most powerful addition to the upcoming release – the DIG Symphony Designer.
The DIG Symphony Designer puts the power of a fully-functional data management tool into your DIG environment. Visit the DIG News page for an overview of this exciting addition to the DIG product suite.
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VAI continues to support the breadth of activities ongoing in the law enforcement and intelligence communities worldwide. The unique information sharing, analytical, and reporting capabilities found in the Data Clarity Suite (VisuaLinks and DIG) remain unmatched by any other software package.
VAI continues to expand internationally as well as provide more integration with other best-of-breed technologies.
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"Based upon my 10+ years of visualization and analysis tool experience, I
can safely say that VisuaLinks is in a class by itself. No other
visualization tool offers as many out-of-the box features for the price. No other
visualization tool scales as well nor bridges the gap between structured
and unstructured data visualization and analysis better than VisuaLinks.
Finally, no other commercial vendor is as responsive to customer input as
VAI. On several occasions, I've been in a VAI demonstration where a
potential customer mentioned that they'd like to see a particular feature
in VisuaLinks, and then in another VAI demonstration several weeks later,
I've seen that specific feature implemented in the tool!"
- A. Steven Anderson, Independent Consultant
Do you have feedback, opinions, or information you’d like to share? This is the place! Send us your input and we’ll publish it here.
Please send your feedback to newsletter@visualanalytics.com.
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